Wayne County canvassers vote to recount Detroit mayoral ballots

Sep. 5, 2013

Written by

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

It may be hard to believe but the primary election in Detroit still is not settled. And today makes exactly one month since voters cast ballots for mayor, city council and city clerk.

The Wayne County Board of Canvassers voted Thursday to recount ballots from Detroit’s August primary, based on a petition from former mayoral candidate Tom Barrow, who alleged fraud in the election process.

It will be the fourth time ballots from Detroit’s mayoral race will be counted. Detroit elections workers counted the ballots initially, then workers from the Wayne County Elections Division verified the counts to try and certify the results. But the certification came from the Board of State Canvassers after the Wayne County board found issues they said called for state intervention.

Among other things, in his petition for a recount Barrow alleged:

■Precinct workers were not sworn in and trained pursuant to elections rules

■The number of applications for absentee ballots was lower than the number of absentee votes cast

Duggan campaign attorney Melvin (Butch) Hollowell called the recount “a total and colossal waste of time.

“This will be the fourth time the ballots are recounted,” he said. “Just unfounded allegations that have no merit.”

In the state numbers Duggan, former Detroit Medical Center CEO, had 48,716 votes to 28,391 votes for Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon. County officials threw out more than 20,000 votes in their preliminary findings late last month based on what they called counting errors. That gave Napoleon the edge with 28,391 votes to 23,970 for Duggan. Unofficial numbers released on Aug. 6 showed Duggan with 44,395 and Napoleon with 28,352. Both men advance to November’s general election.

The board also approved recounts for the city clerk, for city council’s at-large seat, and city council districts 2, 3 and 7; the counting will begin Tuesday at Cobo Center. Outside of Detroit, the board approved recounts in the Hamtramck mayor’s race and a 2-year city council race. Those recounts will take place Monday in Hamtramck City Hall.

The board also sought to get numbers to determine how many absentee ballots were printed for the Detroit election, how many were applied for by residents and how many were received by city officials. Barrow, who came in fifth in the primary, also alleged that on election day, more than 100 people forged credentials to gain access as poll challengers under the group Citizens for Fair Elections. Barrow’s brother is president of the group.

“Where were the sign-in sheets?” asked Wayne County Board of Canvassers member Joseph Xuereb. “Can we get those?”

“That’s a question for the city clerk,” Wayne County Director of Elections Delphine Oden said.

Oden said that the number of additional staffers needed for the recount is unknown. They have 20 days from Aug. 30 to complete the recount so ballots can be produced for November’s elections.